to blog or not to blog

i am growing and thinking a lot these days. the question remains: to blog or not to blog? increasingly lately, i am thinking: to blog.

decision making-get your move on

how long should a Christian wait to make a decision on an important matter?

what is the balance between waiting to hear an answer from God, and making a decision based on the principles He has already revealed to you through scripture and using the brain He has given you?

as with many things, leaning to far one way or the other is probably not the right answer. always relying on a "voice from above", or always applying principles only without listening can definately get us in trouble, so there must be a balance.

i have been pondering this lately and am coming to the conclusion that God wants me to apply much more than i have on what He has revealed to me already to the current question at hand. i have noticed many Christians can become paralyzed in waiting on God to "move them", when in fact He is clearly waiting for "them to move". i have fallen prey to this many times in my walk.

so do that. if you don't hear a clear voice, then get a move on making the best decision you can given the principles God has revealed in His word. and YES! we should always be attentive to hear His voice if He moves us strongly in one direction or another. in fact, many times He is probably waiting to speak until after you get a move on!

why

some or none of my fan may be asking, where is that sendthinker dude? well, he is still here, here is now Washington instead of New Mexico and the reason I am not commenting as much is because I haven't made it a priority. i guess i'm trying to figure out what i really want to comment about. God is really working on humbling me and showing me how little i really understand about anything much less the stuff i've been posting about. so where will this go?, more to come...

How'd I do?

Here were my predictions in January of 2008. So how'd I do?

1. US will begin significant troop pullout by September. Iraq non-issue in election.
--Correct: We began the troop pullout and Iraq disappeared off the radar. The surge worked and if we had listened to Obama and the democrats, Today, a lot more troops and Iraqis would be dead.
2. No hurricanes make US landfall.
--Wrong: 1 Hurricane hit the US, but they predicted 3, they were further off.
3. Congress gets slightly more democratic.
--Correct
4. McCain is the only Republican who can beat Clinton, if he's not nominated Clinton wins. If he is nominated, he wins.
--Wrong: McCain lost to Obama.
5. China wins gold medal count in olympics, by winning things like table tennis.
--Correct: 51 gold for china, 36 for US
6. Economy will continue to slow, but US will narrowly avoid recession.
--Wrong: US showed a narrow shrinking of the economy in 2008.
7. The DJIA will set a new record and top out around 14,600.
--Wrong: DJIA didn't set new record.
8. Low interest rates and cheap houses will cause significant housing pickup towards the end of the year
--housing pickup has begun, but it is not significant yet. Definitely right about the low interest rates.

3.5/8.0 44% Down from 50% last year. Not such a good year. 2009 Predictions coming soon.

outsourcing

I was thinking today. Outsourcing has its pros and cons. But why not outsource our politicians. Surely that would be okay with americans.

Fight FOCA

FOCA Would Wipe Away Every Restriction on Abortion Nationwide
This would eradicate state and federal laws that the majority of Americans support, such as:
Bans on Partial Birth Abortion
Requirements that women be given information about the risks of getting an abortion
Only licensed physicians can perform abortions
Parents must be informed and give consent to their minor daughter's abortion
FOCA would erase these laws and prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future.

If anything, abortion should be more discouraged and less available. This law would really erase a lot of states individual power to govern in this area. That's bad for all americans.

mini nuke plants

so what have i been telling you guys for years now. nuke is the future of our energy needs. duh.

Now a New Mexico company is ready to mass produce units as big as a garden shed capable of supplying electricty to 20,000 homes. The future holds small nuke plants 18 feet by 6 ft capable of powering an office building for 40 years without fuel change. O yeah, and its not weapons grade uranium.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/09/miniature-nuclear-reactors-los-alamos

so i'm crazy

i think that mccain will pull this one out. I think that the polls are wrong. i predict he squeaks out a victory. so go ahead, call me crazy. Number 1 reason I am calling it for Mccain: if mccain gets Pennsylvania, it will be very hard for obama to win, and i just can't see obama winning Pennsylvania.

we're here!

arrived in walla walla today. the week will be filled with finding a place to live and other such adventures. for now, I'm stoked that Pioneer park has a totally awesome boulder for kids (and grownups) to climb on. Ethan solved a really tough problem on it today.

moving

as fall sets in in beautiful new mexico, the balloons fill the roasting chili saturated air.

We've said our goodbyes to the best neighborhood ever and our best friends ever and the move is this weekend. we will be in wally wally sometime next week. goodbye Albuquerque. I can truly say I have enjoyed living here more than any place in my life. Luckily we get to enjoy the balloon fiesta one last time this week. I'm loading up on the world's best green and red chili and heading north.

New adventure awaits in Washington and I can't wait to explore it all with my family!

universal mediscare

The Bush Administration agreed to a 10.6 billion dollar bailout of Massachusetts' out of control health care spending. This after a 25B bailout of the auto industry and during talk of a 700B bailout of the banks.

"Massachusetts landed a $10.6 billion promise of federal funding over three years. The funding will come through the Medicaid program, with a waiver that allows the state to cover some people with higher incomes than are typically allowed in Medicaid, the Boston Globe reports.

The state offers subsidized coverage to people making up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $63,600 for a family of four. Since the universal coverage program launched two years ago, 440,000 more people have signed up for insurance. Elements of state’s insurance program have been cited as a possible national model by some Democrats.

But the program has been more expensive than expected, and there’s a rolling fight over how much businesses should be expected to support the program."

Wow, I can't believe that their universal health care plan turned out more expensive then planned. That is so shocking to me.

History of the Mass problem here:
http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed091508d.cfm

Unbelievable. And democrats want us to do this broken health care system nationwide? Imagine bailing out every state, then turning around and having to bailout social security and medicare sometime in the next couple of decades.

People, where is all this money going to come from? The top 5% of Americans cannot bear the whole of these burdens!

"bailout"

my prediction is that John McCain gets credit for orchestrating a bailout plan between the white house and congressional republicans which shifts the burden of this bailout to the companies and not all to the taxpayers. the democrats will be forced to go along with the republican plan to get the presidents signature and not look like the party for putting this burden on the taxpayers. obama will look like a fool for "being available by phone if the senate needs him" as McCain makes large poll gains after the plan sends wall street higher. I give kudos to McCain's campaign manager taking as much advantage of McCain's apparent genuine desire to be useful in fixing this mess.

busy

well, we've been busy, and there is actually a good reason I've been negligent in my blog posting. I accepted a job offer in Walla Walla, WA and we are leaving mid-October. I've been feverishly getting our house ready for selling and also spending way more time than usual doing stuff with people, backpacking, mountain biking, tennis, dinner here, dinner there, etc.

i've been missing the posting as of late though and this is definately the longest dry spell in the last 4 years of blogging so I must return! look for more to come.

obama will lose

i've predicted it since Jan. Obama will lose. He has no experience at all. He is a phenom, he is full of empty promises with no record to back up anything he says. He has less than 200 days experience in the Senate. McCain has 20 years in the military, and 26 years in the Senate. the experience is incomparable. this whole contest is a joke, McCain is going to run away with it. Obama is the definition of someone unfit for the highest office in the land. he needs more than the ability to read a speech or hire a good campaign manager. the dems know it and they are scared to death. he will lose. that's my take. bank on it.